DENVER—From the governorship race down to the Secretary of State’s contest, progressive candidates—including current Democratic Socialists of America member Melat Kiros for Congress in Denver and former DSA member Manny Rutinel in a swing district north of Denver—won.
Melat Kiros made a name for herself when she was fired in 2023 from Sydney Austin Law Firm for backing Palestinian rights.
The victories in Colorado followed recent wins by progressives challenging more conservative incumbents in Democratic primaries in New York. And in most cases in both states, victories by progressives involved decisive margins, which should give the party establishment pause.
Their only consolation was that more moderate Sen. John Hickenlooper, 74, won the Democratic U.S. Senate primary. And even he sounded like an anti-Donald Trump progressive in his victory speech.
Days before the primary, conservative Democrats running in the various races signed a joint letter declaring that they were capitalists, not socialists. The letter did not seem to scare off voters determined to send a message that they want strong opposition to MAGA Republicans in November.
The state’s other Democratic senator, Michael Bennet, whose term was not up, ran for governor—and lost by 11 percentage points to state Attorney General Phil Weiser. Weiser outraised Bennet and was seen by many as more fiercely opposed to Trump than Bennet.. Bennet drew more outside money, most of it from a campaign finance committee formed by former New York City GOP Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
Right-wing GOP President Donald Trump and his crusade against voting by mail was a major issue in the races. Colorado conducts its general elections totally by mail. Candidates often competed to see who could denounce the president more vociferously.
The headline winner was Kiros, a Denver native who was booted from her New York City law firm in 2023 and moved back home after the firm’s partners found she was a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause. Her race drew national attention, and her foe, DeGette, drew establishment backing and cash.
“We are winning from coast to coast,” Kiros told her victory party, amid blasting air horns of joy. “We are taking back our party and our country!”
Kiros, 29, had strong backing from fellow Democratic Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont. Kiros beat 30-year incumbent Rep. Diana DeGette, 68, by a 49%-44% margin. A third hopeful, Wanda Davis, got 7%. DeGette, who took special interest money, almost didn’t make it to the primary at all.
Colorado Democrats use party conventions to select hopefuls to compete in the primaries, with a minimum of 30% support to make the ballot. DeGette got 33% then, and Kiros got the rest. In her victory speech, Kiros thanked Sanders for his support and DeGette for her service. DeGette issued no statements.
The “any Democrat will do’ era is over,” Kiros declared on her campaign website and reiterated similar themes in her victory speech.
“When I spoke out against the genocide in Gaza, powerful people told me to stay silent or it would cost me my job.”
“I didn’t back down. Now I’ll do the same in Congress.”
Her top campaign themes were Medicare For All, universal child care, acting to fix the nation’s affordable housing crisis, and an embargo on U.S. arms aid for Israel. All that led Sanders, the prime Senate sponsor of Medicare For All, the arms aid embargo, and the recently passed resolution demanding an end to Trump’s war on Iran, to back her.
And Kiros, like progressives elsewhere in the U.S., hung the now-toxic American Israel Public Affairs Committee—which uncritically supports the fascist and corrupt Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu—around DeGette’s neck. The third candidate in the race, Davis, an elected University of Colorado regent, also ran to DeGette’s left.
Both criticized DeGette’s low profile and lack of accomplishments, which are a direct contrast to her fabled predecessor from Denver, Democratic Rep. Pat Schroeder, an early leader of women running for and in Congress.
“Melat is running a strong grassroots campaign against an establishment incumbent,” Sanders said in a fundraising letter for her bid. “In the last week alone, she faced more than $700,000 in outside spending. In other words, the establishment is doing everything possible to defeat her.”
“Melat was born in Ethiopia, moved to America as a child, and was raised in a working-class immigrant household. She understands healthcare is a human right, housing must be affordable, and billionaires and large corporations should not be allowed to buy our elections.”
“And she has the courage to stand up for what is right: Melat was fired from her law firm for speaking out in defense of students protesting the genocide in Gaza, and she believes we should not be spending huge amounts of money to fund unconstitutional and illegal wars. As a member of Congress, she will vote to end all military support to the extremist government in Israel.”
In the upstate and swing 8th District, Rutinel, a state legislator who let his Democratic Socialist party membership lapse, will face one-term Republican Gabe Evans, who unseated a Democratic incumbent two years ago. Party pooh-bahs, including the rest of the state’s congressional delegation, backed more “moderate” former legislator Shannon Bird. Rutinel beat Bird 61%-34%.
The Denver Post noted the district is the poorest in Colorado and also heavily Latino. Rutinel, a Latino, said he ran to work to ensure the constituents could have the same opportunities to rise that he did.
In his victory speech, the lone “moderate,” Hickenlooper, a former governor and Denver Mayor, said he has never lost a political race and doesn’t intend to start now over a virtually unknown Republican right-winger.
“Coloradoans have once again made their voices clear. We are not going to accept Trump’s broken promises and cost-of-living emergency, or his constant corruption,” the senator said after defeating State Sen. Julie Gonzales, who ran to his left and called Hickenlooper “an incrementalist.” Hickenlooper won, 56%-44%.
The progressive wins extended all the way down to the Secretary of State’s race for an open seat. Term-limited incumbent Secretary Juliana Griswold took the lead two years ago in unsuccessfully trying to boot Trump off Colorado ballots.
Jefferson County (Denver) Clerk and Recorder Amanda Gonzalez beat State Sen. Jessie Danielson, 63%-37%.“This is our democracy,” Gonzalez said. “We are taking it back. Democracy belongs to the people, and we are in it together.”
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